The Enugu State government has established a steering committee aimed at eradicating Gender-Based Violence (GBV) within the state, affirming a stance of zero tolerance towards this social issue.
The inauguration ceremony was held at the Government House in Enugu on Monday.
This committee, chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, includes representatives from various sectors such as the Nigeria Police Force, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, as well as members from Civil Society.
During the inauguration of the panel, known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence and the Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah reiterated his administration’s commitment to not only hold perpetrators of GBV accountable but also to implement proactive measures—activities, infrastructure, and systems—to prevent such violence.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, Mbah stated, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He also emphasised that the initiative aims to protect all individuals, regardless of gender, as GBV affects both men and women.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remarks, Mrs. Enih explained that the Oputa Panel approach was adopted to ensure that local peculiarities are addressed in the domesticating of the GBV policy, thereby restoring the government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.
